The Rio de Janeiro Civil Police reported on Sunday (4) that they prevented an attack involving improvised explosives at the American singer Lady Gaga’s show, which drew 2.1 million people to Copacabana beach on Saturday night (3). A man identified as the leader of the plot was arrested in Rio Grande do Sul.
According to the statement, the operation that thwarted the attack involved several police stations, including from outside the state, with support from the Ministry of Justice and Public Security. The target was a gang operating on the internet, recruiting people to commit crimes and broadcast them live.
The group spread hate speech and was preparing a plan, “mainly against children, teenagers, and the LGBTQIA+ public,” police said.
The man detained in the south of the country was caught in the act for illegal possession of a firearm. His identity has not been disclosed. A teenager was apprehended for possession of child pornography in Rio de Janeiro.
Investigation
An investigation identified that those involved were recruiting people, including teenagers, to carry out coordinated attacks using improvised explosives and Molotov cocktails. The alert came from the Civil Police’s Subsecretariat of Intelligence.
The plan was treated as a collective challenge, aimed at gaining notoriety on social media. The targets of the operation operated on digital platforms, promoting the radicalization of teenagers, the spread of hate crimes, self-harm, pedophilia, and violent content as a form of belonging.
As a result of the operation, police officers also went to Macaé, in the north of Rio de Janeiro state, to serve a search and seizure warrant against an individual who was also planning attacks. He threatened to kill a child live. The suspect is charged with terrorism and inducement to crime.
The operation was named Fake Monster (false monsters, in English), a reference to how Lady Gaga calls her fans, little monsters.
Four States
The action involved officers from the Victim Child and Adolescent Police Station (Dcav), the Computer Crimes Repression Police Station (DRCI), and the 19th Police Station, in conjunction with the Cyber Operations Laboratory (Ciberlab) of the Ministry of Justice and Public Security (MJSP). The raids also had support from the Rio police’s Special Resources Coordination (Core).
In the operation, 15 search and seizure warrants were served in the cities of Rio de Janeiro, Niterói, Duque de Caxias, and Macaé, in Rio de Janeiro state; Cotia, São Vicente, and Vargem Grande Paulista, in São Paulo; São Sebastião do Caí, in Rio Grande do Sul; and Campo Novo do Parecis, in Mato Grosso. The effort had support from civil police in those states.
At the addresses, agents seized electronic devices and other materials that will be analyzed.
According to the Civil Police, the operation was carried out in a way that neutralized the criminal activities without any impact on show attendees, avoiding panic or misinformation.
Cell Phone Thefts
In another line of action, the Rio de Janeiro Civil Police reported that they arrested 16 people on Saturday who were part of the state’s largest cell phone theft, robbery, and receiving gang. The organization was caught off guard as it prepared to receive phones stolen by group members during Lady Gaga’s show in Copacabana.
Of the 16 arrested, four are identified as leaders. In addition to the robberies, they ran the distribution and resale scheme in the black market. Some of them even sold virtual courses for unlocking cell phones.
The investigation shows that the gang maintained an office equipped with softwares and cutting-edge technological tools for unlocking devices. In addition to daily operations, the suspects had a strong presence at major events.
Around 200 cell phones and six notebooks were recovered, along with card machines and cell phone parts.
Source: Agência Brasil